Not to bury the lede: The Maggard slant is terrific! – Updated

My prep was good: I started a new bar of MR GLO this morning and enjoyed that. RazoRock’s excellent Zi’ Peppino shaving soap was easily transformed in a highly satisfying slick lather with the Wolf Whiskers brush (which I am going to part with). I took my time working the lather into my stubble before picking up the razor.

I’m using the Maggard slant head ($20, amazing) on their MR11 handle, and it is a good match, though I think any of their handles will do. The head is 31g, and that’s exactly the same weight as an Edwin Jagger head, so you could readily use the Maggard slant head on an Edwin Jagger handle with no change in balance.

The head is coated with a shiny, slick coating in gun-metal gray. It looks very handsome, and the feel of the coating is really nice. I would guess this coating will wear well.

The shave was wonderful. I think this one is as good as any slant I have. I want to do a comparison shave with the X3, but my impression is that it will be a tie in terms of comfort and efficiency, and the X3 has been my favorite slant for a while.

UPDATE: Lately, for some reason, I have been experiencing lots of nicks with this slant. I don’t think my technique has changed, but obviously it must have. I’m now trying different brands of blades, but still have not cracked the code. FWIW, the Fine Superlite and Phoenix Artisan Bakelite slants are also causing me trouble. The Merkur 37C and The Holy Black’s take on it, their SR-71 slant, still work, as does the RazoRock German 37, but I’m finding that the most comfortable and flawless shaves are with the iKon X3 and the iKon 102. (The RazoRock Wunderbar never did work for me: I routinely got a lot of nicks with that and sold it fairly soon.) No idea what’s going on, but my slant recommendations have devolved to the two that work best for me: the iKon 102 and the iKon X3. /update

The head is wide enough to just cover the tabs of the blade (in this case a Personna Lab Blue, a brand I have found works well for me in my slants), and I like that style: like the finish on the head, it seems urbane and polished.

Three passes, an absolutely BBS finish and no nicks or other problems. I’m extremely happy with this slant.

A splash of Zi’ Peppino aftershave, and the week begins.

UPDATE: A commenter notes that he has seen several reports of people having blade alignment problems. I use the method illustrated in this video, and I had no problems at all.

I saw that warning as well, but I had no problem at all. I placed the blade on the cap and pushed it all the way down, then placed the baseplate on that and squeezed the two together and held them that way as I tightened the handle. That worked fine.

Do keep in mind that almost every review of the head have stated blade alignment issues. You should mention this as well on the other forums you frequent, as yours is the outlier case in this instance.

Interesting. I don’t read most forums—I mostly stick to Wicked Edge—and I had not seen it mentioned there as a problem. And I certainly had no problem. In a comment above, I describe how I loaded the razor, and I’ll also point out this helpful video from iKon that shows that loading method in action.

Like the Edwin Jagger head, the Maggard slant head is also Zamak, and thus coated to protect the metal. EJ uses a heavy chrome plating, but the coating on the Maggard slant is different. Maggard defines it as a “matte gray plating,” but they don’t say what it is made of. And mine seemed shiny rather than a matte finish. Whatever it is, it seems very nice.

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